Cross-associating folders with spaceable nipping rollers



Dec. 20, 1955 C. A. HARLESS ETAL CROSS-ASSOCIATING FOLDERS WITH SPACEABLE NIPFING ROLLERS Filed March 29, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS CHARLES A. HARLESS EMORY W. WORTH/NGTON ANDREW R. HEGEMAN BY ln 1% ATTORNEY-T Dec. 20, 1955 c. A. HARLESS ETAL 2,727,739

CROSS-ASSOCIATING FOLDERS WITH SPACEABLE NIPPING ROLLERS Filed March 29, 1954 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS CHARLES A. HARLESS EMORY W. WORTHINGTON ANDREW R. HEGEMAN Fig. 2 E i ATTORNEYS Dec. 20, 1955 A. HARLESS 'ETAL CROSS-ASSOCIATING FOLDERS WITH SPACEABLE NIPPING ROLLERS Filed March 29, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 Fig. 3

INVENTORS CHARLES A. HARLESS EMORY W. WORTH/NGTON ANDREW R. HEGEMAN ATTORNEY- United States Patent CROSS-ASSOCIATING FOLDERS WITH SPACEABLE NIPPING ROLLERS Charles A. Harless, Riverside, Conan, and Emory W. Worthington, Hastings-on-Hudson, and Andrew R. Hegeman, Yonkers, N. Y., assignors to R. Hoe & (10., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 29, 1954, Serial No. 419,142

9 Claims. (Cl. 276-42) pair of formers 13, 13 are positioned directly below the upper formers and have similar pairs of nipping rolls 14, 15 and 14', 15 between which the webs or ribbons V and V pass, as indicated. Below each pair of nipping rollers is a further pair of nipping rollers, 17 or 16, 17' from which the webs or ribbons pass to the cutting or cutting and folding cylinder parts 19, and 19', 20' of the further folding cut-off and delivery mechanisms.

The structure and mounting of the foregoing elements as thus far described may be entirely conventional and, accordingly, will not be described further herein. It may be noted that the folders are usually associated with slitting rollers 21 and 21' (Fig. 2), respectively, for the upper and lower pair, so that each former of a pair takes onehalf of a web and folds itto one-quarter the original full web width, the thus folded one-half web ribbon being positioned below the formers. It has more recently been proposed to mount a pair of nipping rollers below each former for bodily movement and for movement of one roller of a pair with relation to the other, so as to obtain the necessary web guidance and compensation without requiring additional compensating rollers for the crossassociated webs or ribbons.

In prior machines making provision for cross-association, there has, however, been involved the added expense and complication due to providing compensators for the cross-association, and the mechanism has been crowded to such a point as to occupy space which could otherwise be used to advantage for certain web leads. The provision for compensating movement of the nipping rolls has also involved considerable complication and expense.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an improved cross-associating mechanism. Another object is to provide such a mechanism permitting a maximum number of web leads in conjunction with balloon formers. Still another object is to provide an improved gear drive arrangement for a cross associating folder.

With the foregoing objects, as well as others which will appear, in mind, a mechanism will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, and the features forming the invention will then be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Pig. 1 is an end elevation of a folder embodying the invention in a preferred form, and indicating the web handling mechanisms and web leads schematically;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the mechanism of Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a pair of nipping rollers showing the gearing and mounting structure thereof in section along line 3--3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a detail section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

In Fig. i there is indicated schematically a pair of upper formers iii and ill (the mechanism in general is duplicated left and right, and the corresponding parts are identified by numerals with and Without prime superscripts, so that a description and understanding of either the right or left hand mechanism will serve to make clear the construction and operation of the right hand mechanism and vice versa). The webs, ribbons or associated webs or ribbons W and W pass downward from these formers and between stationary and yieldable nipping rollers 11, 12 and 11, 12, as indicated. The lower passed along either in folded condition or slit so as to form two face to face one-quarter ribbons, as desired. The mechanism and operation in this respect also may be conventional. A number of guide rolls are provided in conjunction with the upper formers, these including, for the left hand former, rolls 22 to 25, one of which is utilized as a compensator, being mounted, for movement to vary the length of the path of travel of the web, as by swinging in an arc such as indicated by the curved arrows associated with roller 23. A second pair of nipping rollers 26, 27 is provided for the web or ribbons coming from the upper former. These various rollers just described are reduplicated on the right hand side of the machine and identified by similar reference numerals with a prime superscript. Centrally of the machine there is located a pair of nipping rollers 23, 29 between which ribbons from either of the upper formers may pass.

The pair of nipping rollers 16, '17 (as also 16', 17) is arranged for adjustment to suit a variety of conditions. In the first place these rollers may be in the solid line position of Fig. l, for use in the following leads:

(a) Directing the ribbons from former 13 to the delivery 19, 2%, While all remaining ribbons go toward the other delivery 19, 20'. I

(b) Directing the ribbons from formers 10 and 13 to the delivery 19, 21) while those from formers 10' and 13' go to the other delivery. In this case the ribbons W and V may follow the full line paths of Fig. l or the ribbons W from the upper former 10 may take the phantom path around rollers 24, 25, ZSand 17 as shown in that figure.

(c) In another case all the ribbons may pass down between rollers l6 and 17, the ribbons from former 10 being led down between rollers 26 and 27, and over roller 16. The ribbons from former 1i) would be carried around rollers 23, 24, 25, between rollers 28 and 29, and to roller 17. The ribbons from former 13 would pass around the roller l7'in its raised position and follow the dotted line to the roller 17 Alternatively, the ribbons that come from formerlil' may be led down between rollers 26 and 27, thence under roller 16' and across to roller 17, if it is desired to have the ribbons from former MB on the outside of the ribbons from the former;

13, instead of between the ribbons from the former l3 and those from the former 13, when the final fold is made, by the folding cylinder 19.

(0') Finally, the ribbons from the upper, formers 10 and Ill may pass to the left hand delivery along with the ribbons V while those from the former 13 go to the right hand delivery.- In this case the ribbons from former 10 could be brought clear across from roller 24' passing either directly over roller 24 or over and under rollers 25', 25 as desired, so that the ribbons from the upper formers are to the left of the ribbons Alternatively ribbons from both upper formers could be brought down centrally of the machine so as to be to the right of the 3 ribbons V, or the ribbons from former could be brought down to the left and those from former 10 to the right.

Any or all of the foregoing leads may be replaced by a corresponding lead but in which the functions of the right hand and left hand formers and other elements are reversed. It will be observed that practically any placement of ribbons and hence any placement of color or other subject matter in the finished product may be obtained.

In taking ribbons V across to the right hand delivery, the nipping roller 17 is lifted to the dotted line position of Fig. l, and the ribbons V then follow the dotted path of the figure. The length of this path may be regulated by suitably adjusting the height of nipping roller 17 so as to register the ribbons V with the ribbons V when they are combined therewith as they pass over the roller 17.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art the printing plates printing on the half of the web which passes over former 13 may, and ordinarily will, be staggered with relation to those printing the half of the web passing over the former 13. This staggering is customarily utilized to reduce vibration as the gutters between plates pass the line of impression between plate cylinder and impression cylinder. The adjusting movement of roller 17, and the similar adjusting movement of roller 17 provide for compensation for several purposes. The first purpose, which requires only a small adjustment about a known position is for bringing nearly registered webs into exact registration. The second adjustment is one for providing a different length of travel between nipper rollers 14, and 16, 17', from that between nipping rollers 14', 15' and 16, 17, such difference in length of travel being necessitated by the stagger. For example, with two plates around and two across a printing cylinder, and with a usual arrangement in which the plates nearer one end are staggered 45 or 90, compensation must be provided so as to vary the length of the two cross-associating paths with respect to each other by about one plate length, one set of ribbons being advanced in associating them to produce registry and the other being retarded. A third purpose for the compensating adjustment of roller 17 would be to permit use of the same cross-associating folder with printing equipment having different angles of stagger as between plates. This, however, is ordinarily not necessary, and it is sufficient to provide for the necessary registration of crossassociated webs with a known and fixed stagger.

it will be observed that the lifting of roller 17 (which is driven) frees the cooperating roller 16, which then becomes an idle roller suitable for guiding ribbons W over to the right hand delivery along a path such as the one indicated in phantom in Fig. 1. Rollers 16, 17 (as well as 16', 17') are thus capacitated to perform in two basically different manners. First, and in the full line position of Fig. 1, they may serve as nipping rollers between which webs pass through the subjacent delivery. Second, and when separated by lifting roller 17, roller 17 may then serve as a driven compensating roller for crossassociation of ribbons V while roller 16 now serves as a guide roll for cross-associated ribbons W. In all cases each batch of ribbons, after leaving its former, may pass between two pairs of nipping rollers, and the crossassociated ribbons may pass around a driven compensating roll positioned between pairs of nipping rollers. Full control of ribbons of any dimensions and in particular of ribbons slit to single tabloid width, is thus provided.

The general gear arrangement is shown in Fig. 2, and comprises horizontal shafting 40, which through bevel gear couples 41 and 41 and vertical shafting 42, 42' drives bevel gear pairs 43, 43' for the cylinders and 20' in the delivery, the cylinders 19, 19' being driven by spur gears 44, 44' meshing with spur gears 45, 45 next to the cylinders 19, 19. Vertical shafting drives the various upper mechanisms through bevel gear pairs as shown and horizontal shafts 51, 52, 53 and 54, shafts 52 and 54 driving the slitting rollers 21 and 21', shaft 53 driving the nipping roll pairs 11, 12 and 11, 12' and shaft 51 driving directly and indirectly the remaining mechanism which is of interest. Shaft 51, through suitable bevel and spur gearing drives the nipping roll pairs 26, 27 and 14-, 15 as well as the symmetrical pairs 14, 15 and 26, 27. A central bevel gear pair 55 driven by shaft 51 drives central nipping roll 28, and spur gear 56 fixed to it, which meshes with spur gear 57 fixed to its cooperating roll 29. The drive for the roller pairs 16, 17 and 16', 17 is taken off the gear 56 in a similar manner. It comprises for the pair 16, 17 intermediate idle gears 60, 61, gear 62 driving the roller 17 and gear 63 driving the roller 16. Similar gears identified by prime numerals are provided for driving the roller pair in, 17. Since the initial gear 60' of this last train meshes with gear 60, the right hand drive is the same as the left hand drive but in the opposite direction, which is correct in view of the right and left hand or mirror symmetry of the construction.

The details of the drive of rollers 16 and 17 are shown in Fig. 3. As there shown, roller 17 is carried in a pair of arms 70, 71 pivotally mounted in the machine frames 72, 73 on studs 74, 75, the shaft 76 of roller 17 being supported in anti-friction hearings in sockets at the ends of arms 70, 71 as shown. Shaft 76 is a hollow shaft, and an adjusting shaft 80 passes through it, being journaled in the supporting arms 70, 71 carrying bevel gears 82, 83 as indicated, and extending at one end through an aperture 84 in the frame 73 and carrying a hand wheel 85 as shown. Also carried in brackets formed on arms 70 and 71 and as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is a pair of shafts 86, 87 carrying bevel gears 88, 89 in mesh with the gears 82, 83 and also carrying worms 88, 89 in mesh with worm wheel sectors 90, 91 fixed to the frames 72, '73 and concentric about the studs 74, 75. As will be apparent, turning hand wheel 85 rotates shaft 80 and through the bevel gear pairs 82, 88 and 83, 89 rotating the worms in mesh with the sectors 90, 91 and thus shifting arms and the cylinder 17 about the common center or axis of studs 74, 75. Intermediate idle gear 61 being concentric with studs 74 and 75, this movement of arms 70, 71 rolls gear 62 epicyclically about the gear 61 and takes it into and out of mesh with gear 63 according to the direction of movement. The shaft 93 of roller 16 is carried in anti-friction bearings supported in sliding blocks 94 urged by means of springs 95 contained within housings 96 mounted on the frames 72 and 73, toward roller 17. Reduced portions of the blocks 94 are slidable in the housings 96, as indicated, for confining the blocks to a simple sliding movement, and they are extended by screw threaded poppet rods 97 which engage in correspondingly internally threaded nuts 98, which are externally worm-wheel threaded and mesh with worms 99 fixed to an adjusting shaft 100, which is journaled to extensions 101 of the housings 96. One end of shaft passes out through an aperture in the frame 73 and carries a hand wheel 102. A hollow shaft section 103 surrounds this end of the shaft 100 and carries a second hand wheel 104, the hand wheel 104 being internally threaded and engaging the externally threaded tip of the hollow shaft or sleeve 103. Wheel 104 serves in the usual way for locking shaft 100 against rotation and releasing it for rotation, by exerting and releasing frictional pressure against the hub of hand wheel 102. The latter hand wheel is utilized to turn the shaft 100 and hence to turn nuts 98, thus backing roller 16 away from roller 17 against the pressure of springs 95 or permitting these springs to move it further toward the roller 17. When the roller 17 has been lifted up out of engagement with roller 16, the thrust of springs 95 is taken by nuts 98 seating against the housings 96 and thus r position roller 16 properlyto serve asa bons V from an upper former.

As will now be apparent, complete cross-association in a balloon former has been provided with practically no added parts, beyond those necessary for the swing ing or pivotally mounting of rollers 17 and 17'. It will also be noted that due to the absence of extra compensating rollers in the space between the lower pair of formers and their deliveries, web leads from the upper formers hitherto not possible have been provided for. It will further be noted that the making available of rollers 16 and 16' as guide rollers for the webs from the upper formers makes provision for a variety of associations of these ribbons without utilizing .any added elements and consistent with a construction of the utmost compactness.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cross-associating web folding machine having a pair of nipping rollers and means for supplying a web thereto and taking a web therefrom, together with a frame structure supporting the same, the combination with the machine frame structure and said nipping rollers, of means movably supporting one nipping roller from the frame and urging it yieldably toward the other, means movably supporting the second said roller from the said frame structure and for fixing it selectively in a position of cooperative engagement with the first said roller and in a position spaced therefrom, the last said means comprising arms pivoted coaxially to the machine frame structure and supporting the second said roller, and driving gearing for said nipping rollers, including drive gears on the shafts of the rollers of the pair, and meshing to drive the first said roller from the second said roller, and a gear for driving the second said roller mounted coaxially with the said pivoted arms, whereby the gear driving the second said roller may be moved out of mesh with the gear driving the first said roller and remain in mesh with the last said gear when the second roller is in the said position spaced from the first said roller.

2. The combination according to claim 1 comprising also driving gearing for said nipping rollers, including drive gears on the shafts of the rollers of the pair, and meshing to drive the first said roller from the second said roller, and a gear for driving the second said roller mounted coaxially with the said pivoted arms, whereby the gear driving the second said roller may be moved out of mesh with the gear driving the first said roller and remain in mesh with the last said gear when the second roller is in the said position spaced from the first said roller.

3. In a cross-associating web folding machine having a pair of nipping rollers and means for supplying a web thereto and taking a web therefrom, together with a frame structure supporting the same, the combination with the machine frame structure and said nipping rollers, of means movably supporting one nipping roller from the frame and urging it yieldably toward the other, means movably supporting the second said roller from the said frame structure and for fixing it selectively in cooperative engagement withthe first said roller and spacing it therefrom, the last said means comprising arms pivoted coaxially to the machine frame structure, supporting the second said roller and adjustable through a predetermined arc for compensating a web, and driving gearing for said nipping rollers, including drive gears on the shafts of the rollers of the pair, and meshing to drive the first said roller from the second said roller, and a gear for driving the second said roller mounted coaxially with the said pivoted arms,'whereby the gear driving the second said roller may be moved out of mesh with the gear driving the first said roller and remain in mesh with the last said gear when the second roller is in the said position spaced from the first said roller.

guide for rib- 4. ma cross-associating web foldingmachine, and in combination, a pair of upper formers, a pair of lower formers, and a pair of deliveries, the elements of each pair being positioned side by side and corresponding elements of the different pairs being vertically superposed, a pair of nipping rollers positionedbetween each of the two lower formers and its subjacent delivery, supporting meansfor the nipping rollers comprising means for holding the rollers of each pair in cooperative engagement for handling web ribbons going to the subjacent delivery and means for holding the two said rollers in spaced relation, to permit passage of a ribbon from a lower former around the inward roller of the subjacent pair and across to the pair below the other lower former, means for guiding a ribbon from an upper former around the outside of the arrangement and around the outward nipping roller of the first said pair to the other pair of nipping rollers, and means for adjusting the position of the said inward roller to compensate ribbon guided by it to the said other pair of nipping rollers.

5. In a cross-associating web folding machine, and in combination, a pair of upper formers, a pair of lower formers, and a pair of deliveries, the elements of each pair being positioned side by side and corresponding elements of the different pairs being vertically superposed, a pair of nipping rollers positioned between each of the two lower formers and its subjacent delivery, supporting means for the nipping rollers comprising means for holding the rollers of each pair in cooperative engagement for handling web ribbons going to the subjacent delivery and means for holding the two said rollers in spaced relation, to permit passage of a ribbon from a lower former around the inward roller of the subjacent pair and across to the pair below the other lower former, means for guiding a ribbon from an upper former around the outside of the arrangement and around the outer nipping roller of the said pair to the other pair of nipping rollers, means for guiding a ribbon from an upper former down between the lower formers and to either of the subjacent pairs of nipping rollers, and means for adjusting the position of the said inward roller to compensate ribbons guided by it to the said other pair of nipping rollers.

6. In a cross-associating web folder having a-pair of formers, a pair of subjacent deliveries and two pairs of nipping rollers for guiding ribbons from each former to its subjacent delivery, the improved nipping roller supporting and driving mechanism, which comprises for each pair of rollers a gear fixed to each roller, an idle gear in mesh with one of the said gears, a pivotal mounting for supporting and moving the roller to which the said one of the gears is attached concentrically about the idle gear between a position where its gear meshes with the gear of the cooperating roller and a position where it is out of mesh with the same, and further drive gearing for driving the idle gears of the two said mechanisms.

7. Nipping roller supporting and driving mechanism according to claim 6, in which the said pivotal mounting is adjustable for varying the position of the roller supported thereby for compensating ribbons guided thereby.

8. In a cross-associating web folder having a pair of formers, a pair of subjacent deliveries and two pairs of nipping rollers for guiding ribbons from each former to its subjacent delivery, the improved nipping roller supporting and driving mechanism, which comprises for each pair of rollers a gear fixed to each roller, an idle gear in mesh with one of the said gears, a pivotal mounting for supporting and moving the roller to which the said one of the gears is attached concentrically about the idle gear between a position where its gear meshes with the gear of the cooperating roller and a position where it is out of mesh with the same, and further drive gearing comprising a gear pair in mesh with each other and with said idle gears and gearing for driving one of the gears of the said pairs.

7 9. Nipping roller supporting and driving mechanism according to claim 6, in which the said'pivotal mounting is adjustable for varying the position of the roller suppotted thereby for compensating ribbons guided thereby.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 558,424 Scott Apr. 14, 1896 8 Ball May 19, 1931 Crafts Aug. 21, 1934 Crafts Sept. 10, 1935 Peyrebrune Sept. 25, 1951 

